You may wonder why we chose to call our new Korean travel blog – South Korea Hallyu. To us, it was the perfect name to encapsulate what we love about South Korea, from K-Pop to Korean food.
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Hallyu 한류 literally translates as ‘Korean Wave’ and has been used since the early 1990s as a catch-all term to describe Korean pop-culture and its rapid rise to international stardom over the last couple of decades.
From Psy to Squid Game, Blackpink to Culinary Class Wars, Korea’s global popularity is riding high at the moment and long may it continue.
South Korea checklist
We love using agoda.com, expedia.com and booking.com for researching and booking all our hotels, and Hostelworld for booking hostels.
For booking tours, transfers and SIM cards we recommend Get Your Guide, Viator, Trazy or Klook.
For booking rental cars visit Discover Cars. For private drivers and taxis, check out our Transfer guide >
Find safe storage spaces across South Korea with Bounce (and get 5% discount).
Check out our South Korea travel booking resources >
All set for South Korea? Do one final check with our Seoul first timers guide and our South Korea packing list
Our own personal hallyu 한류 journey
Our first trip to South Korea was over 10 years ago and we’ve been back around 8 times since – but it wasn’t until our second or third trip that we truly got under the skin of South Korea and really started to appreciate the culture and culinary scene.
We didn’t know much about the Korean term Hallyu until more recently when we went to an excellent exhibition about Korean culture at London’s V&A Museum.
I (Neil) used to be a Marketing Manager for the V&A so was lucky enough to attend many exhibitions there but the V&A Hallyu: The Korean Wave exhibition in 2022 really resonated with me, more than other shows.
Pretty much immediately after visiting the exhibition, we talked about going back to South Korea again and by that night, we had booked our tickets back to Seoul. The word ‘impulsive’ springs to mind….
Fast forward several years later and we visit Korea at least a couple of times a year – you could call us Hallyu hedonists.
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What does Hallyu cover?
Hallyu 한류 is a term used to describe popular Korean culture. It includes (but is not limited to):
- K Pop music
- K-dramas
- Korean food
- K-beauty
- Korean movies
- Korean Kawaii / characters
The trend seemed to kick-start with Psy’s huge (and incredibly catchy) song – Gangnam Style. It was the first music video to reach over a billion views on YouTube and a huge calling card for South Korea. Today, Psy is still massive and hosts his annual Summer Swag concerts at university campuses and huge arenas.
K-Pop bands like BTS, Blackpink and ATEEZ continue to sell millions of records each year and have international world tours.
K-Dramas have always been popular but more so since streaming services like Netflix started showing new and classic Korean TV series like Crash Landing on You, plus creating their own like Squid Game.
K-Pop Demon Hunters in 2025 has been their latest Korean cartoon K-Pop inspired smash. Pachinko on Apple TV is another recent huge K-Drama hit.
Amazingly. K-Dramas and Korean content are now the SECOND most watched programmes in the world on Netflix, beaten only by US content. In fact, 9% of ALL viewing hours across Netflix worldwide is K-Dramas or Korean reality shows like Culinary Class Wars or Physical 100.
Korean movies like Parasite, Train to Busan and Old Boy also shone a spotlight on Korean cinema. We also recently watched the 2025 Korean thriller / horror ‘Wall to Wall’ and highly recommend it!
K-Beauty is big business too and now one of Korea’s biggest exports! Latest reports indicate that for the first time, exports of Korean beauty products were in excess of $10 Billion USD last year.
And we love Korean food so much – Hallyu makes us happy! Check out our guide to the 30+ best Korean street foods to try >
You might like these Seoul neighbourhood guides:
Dongdaemun
Euljiro
Gangnam
Hannam-dong
Hongdae
Ikseon-dong
Insadong
Itaewon
Myeong-dong
Seongsu-dong
Sindang
Or check out our best neighbourhoods in Seoul Guide >
Hallyu activities in Korea for travellers
We’ve put our Hallyu heads together and suggested several Hallyu / Korean wave activities that relate to cultural activities like K-Dramas and K-Pop.
Suncheon Open Film Set, Suncheon’s K-Drama destination
If you are a K-drama fan, take a step back in time at the Suncheon Open Film Set, a working K-Drama set that has recreated historic Korean streets and shanty towns.
Suncheon Open Film Set (순천 드라마촬영장) was built in 2006 and has featured in countless movies and K-Dramas including the recent Pachinko (Apple TV), Casino (Disney), Love and Ambition, Once in a Summer and East of Eden.
This cracking K-Drama set is open to visitors and features a 70’s shanty town, 60’s downtown Suncheon set plus an 80’s Seoul city filming set. Plus there are fun attractions to discover including a karaoke bar, costume hire, a vintage cafe plus hillside churches.
From the best sets to admission prices, here is our guide to visiting the K-Drama Suncheon Open Film Set >
HiKR Ground
Overlooking Cheonggyecheon Stream in downtown Seoul, time to ‘K-Pop’ along to HiKR Ground, a free cultural center dedicated to all aspects of Korean life.
Opened in 2022 and a modern visitor attraction brought to life by cutting edge technology, there are five floors of activities, pop-up exhibitions and a cafe. It is perhaps best known as the place in Seoul to shoot your own K-Pop style videos at no cost!
Many of the exhibitions are temporary so you never know what to expect at HiKR Ground – but most people head straight to floor two where there are permanent music K-Pop video stages where you take photos in a Korean laundry set, a Seoul Subway recreation, a space-shuttle or on the epic and immersive ‘My Stage’.
Read our HiKR Ground Seoul guide >
Korean Photo Booths
Time to get ‘snap happy’ at a Korean photo booth – whether you are looking for a superb selfie or gorgeous group shot with your friends or fellow travellers, Korean photo booths are easy to use and inexpensive.
Better yet, half the fun is in the taking of the pictures, with a wide variety of props or backdrops to choose from. You can even be pictured with your favorite K-Pop band or cartoon character; one of the more unique South Korea souvenirs to take home for sure.
Literally located on every street corner, from pricing to poses, here is our ultimate guide to using photo booths in Korea >
K-Beauty Shopping and Olive Young
The K-beauty shop Olive Young has become so well known all over the world that many flock to South Korea with empty suitcases just to fill them up with ‘miraculous’ moisturizer or blinged body scrubs.
There are around 1,400 Olive Young K Beauty branches across South Korea and you’ll see the red, green and white logo on every street corner (it’s kind of like the 7-Eleven of the South Korea beauty market).
In late 2023, Olive Young opened their first Olive Young Global store in Myeongdong, specifically aimed at overseas tourists with all their best-selling lines in massive volumes, signs in English, plus multilingual staff and lots of duty-free shopping kiosks.
From colour analysis to booking apps, skin tests to scalp treatments, here is our guide to the best Seoul / South Korean K-Beauty treatments and Korean beauty experiences >
Go to a K-Pop concert or K-Pop shopping in South Korea
Hello to ‘Hallyu’! Korean popular music has gone global, with K-Pop groups now worldwide stars – from BTS to Blackpink, Seventeen to Stray Kids, there are dozens of K-Pop groups to enjoy.
If you are visiting South Korea soon and want to buy K-Pop music or merchandise, there are lots of K-pop shops to browse (especially in Myeongdong), but best of all, you might be able to catch a K-Pop concert.
This was one of the best South Korea Hallyu activities we ever did (although you may need to book tickets far in advance).
Book K-pop concert tickets with Trazy >
You might like – 100 top things to do in Seoul including HiKr Ground, the best free Korean culture museum
Korean Hallyu souvenirs
No trip to South Korea is complete without some form of Korean souvenirs to take home, from tasty treats like kimchi or soju to more lasting treasures like Korean Starbucks mugs or K-photo booth snaps.
Be it cool K-Fashion glasses from Gentle Monster to Squid Game merchandise or customizable gifts, there are happening Hallyu souvenirs for you to take home alongside your photos and magical memories.
Here is our guide to Korea souvenir shopping with gifts to suit all budgets and tastes (quite literally) – and don’t forget to claim a tax refund on any single purchases over 15,000 Won!
Kakao Friends
A great example of Korean animation, Kakao Friends are the cute characters that promote the Kakao Talk messaging app and related services.
Meet Choonsik the cat (춘식이), the most popular character from Korea’s Kakao Friends 카카오프렌. There are Kakao Friends chain stores and concessions all over South Korea, including a flagship store in Hongdae.
K Star Road (AKA GangnamDol bears)
One of the most famous K-Pop activities in Seoul is a visit to the brightly coloured K-pop bears of K Star Road in Gangnam (which are free to visit 24 hours a day).
These ‘GangnamDols’ (brightly coloured bear dolls) line a 1 km stretch of road with around 20 big bears representing the cream of K-pop talent and famous K-pop dolls.
As you’d expect, the ‘star’ of K Star Road is a huge Psy bear / GangnamDol (near Apgujeong Rodeo Station exit 2), but other bears include Girl’s Generation, Miss A and 4Minute – and yes, the BTS Gangnam-su bear is incredibly popular.
You might like our things to do in Gangnam guide >
Meet Hechi, Seoul’s Monster Mascot
Say Hallyu…sorry…Hello to ‘Hechi‘! We had several chance encounters with Seoul’s official mascot on our recent South Korea trip – Hechi seemed to be at most events including festivals at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza and Banpo Rainbow Bridge.
Apparently, the bell on Hechi’s neck takes people’s worries and turns them into happiness – maybe that is why we loved our Seoul trip so much!
Hechi is a new mascot and has his ‘Soul’ Friends, who are more cute Korean cartoon characters.
Read more about Hechi in our guide >
You might like more weird, wonderful and unusual things to do in Seoul >
Seoul Hallyu tour
A full day of Hally-U themed activities in Seoul, this is the ultimate K-Pop tour for any super-fan.
The K Pop Seoul tour departs from Myeongdong or Hongik early in the morning, before whisking you away to visit ‘KBS’ (a Korean TV station) and KBS Open Radio Studio with a guide.
Afterwards, take some selfies in a K-pop themed playground followed by the K-pop Music Video Zone with 5 different themes including a K-pop Stage, Color Room and Subway themed room.
You also get to visit KPOPTown 4u to stock up K-pop Idol goods, plus the Statue of Gangnam Style (more on this later) and Kwangya where the famous SM Entertainment office is located.
Book your Seoul K-Pop Hallyu tour on Viator or Trazy.
Seoul Karaoke Time
Time to let off a little steam after traipsing around the streets of Seoul all day – Hongdae is the go-to place in Seoul for karaoke and letter your inner K-Pop escape.
With dozens of private karaoke booths in huge high-rise karaoke ‘towers’, sing to your heart’s content in Hongdae without fear of anyone hearing you (unless you want to be heard).
You might like this Seoul Sunset Karaoke tour >
Our final hallyu thing to do
Hongdae Street K-Pop performers
The K-Pop stars of tomorrow all have to start somewhere and Hongdae is a breeding ground for up and coming street performers and K-Pop talent.
On all of our daytime visits to Hongdae (particularly at the weekends in summer), we’ve seen dozens of street performers from K-Pop boy bands to accordionists, street-rappers to beatboxers.
Wannabe K-Pop girl groups in Hongdae seem particularly popular especially with young and old men who bring out their large cameras and telescopic lenses – eek!
Huge crowds gather to watch impromptu performances or join in singalong sessions; we’ve even seen fans bring along K-pop light sticks to support their favourite street performers.
The best places to catch street performers are along Festival Street or Hongdae Street.
You might like our things to do in Hongdae guide >
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